State of Caring Carers UK State of Caring 2017 Report | Page 24

STATE OF CARING REPORT 2017
A contribution that is
understood and valued?
Carers make a huge contribution to the lives of those
they care for and to our wider society. They provide
invaluable support often at personal cost to their own
mental and physical wellbeing, their relationships with
family and friends, and to their own needs. Yet the
majority of carers report feeling that their contribution
is not understood and is not valued. Almost three
quarters of people (73%) said they feel government
does not understand their contribution or value it at
all, while only 15% of people said their contribution
is well understood and valued by health and care
professionals, despite these being the very people who
carers rely on for support. I want staff in health and social care
to talk to me not ignore me. I want
them to understand that I work part
time so am not always available.
I want them to understand that I
am getting older. I want them to
understand that I have a married life
and friends whom I neglect
Those providing more than 50 hours of care per week
and those providing care to a disabled child were most
likely to say government didn’t understand or value
their contribution at all (75%), while those providing
care to a disabled child were also the most likely to say
that health and care staff didn’t understand or value
their contribution at all (36%). I feel that as a carer I only count as
the cheapest form of care available.
It starts and stops with that
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